DANVILLE — The Dardanelle Junior Sand Lizards (1-0) football team kicked off the 2013 season on the right note Thursday with a 15-0 victory over the Danville Little Johns.

The Sand Lizards defense played the largest role in the evening by limiting the Little Johns (0-1) to 66 yards of total offense.

After Dardanelle was forced to punt on its opening drive, the Sand Lizards defense came up with a stop on fourth-and-5 to give the Sand Lizards the ball at their own 35.

The Sand Lizards then drove to the Little Johns 2-yard line before fumbling on first-and-goal.

The Sand Lizards defense came up with its second big play of the evening after a high snap by the Little Johns by tackling Danville quarterback Jake Madding in the end zone for a safety. Dardanelle took a 2-0 lead with 6:14 remaining in the second quarter.

The Sand Lizards proceeded to put together an eight-play, 54-yard scoring drive capped off by a 9-yard rush by Dakota Rowland to take a 9-0 lead with 1:32 left in the half.

Dardanelle’s defense held strong once again and intercepted Madding’s pass as time expired in the half.

The Little Johns were unable to cross midfield on their opening drive of the second half and were forced to punt.

Danville’s defense did its part by forcing Dardanelle to a three-and-out, yet the Little Johns’ special teams had issues as they fumbled during the punt return giving the Sand Lizards new life at their own 42.

The Sand Lizards capitalized on good field position by putting together a seven-play, 58-yard drive to take a 15-0 lead with 6:41 left in the fourth quarter. The Sand Lizards faced fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line, but Rowland plunged into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night to cap off the drive.

Danville made its best offensive effort on its final drive of the evening advancing the ball to the Sand Lizards 20, but three costly penalties hampered the drive. The Little Johns faced fourth-and-21 on the Sand Lizards 31-yard line, but a pass interference call was not enough for a first down after an incomplete pass by Madding.

The majority of Dardanelle’s offense was on the ground as Rowland led all rushers with 104 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns. While quarterback Kyle Smith was 0-1 through the air, he had 11 carries for 75 yards. Elyas Carter completed 3-of-5 passing for 29 yards for the Sand Lizards.

Madding led the Little Johns offense on 1-for-2 passing for 19 yards while rushing seven times for 21 yards. Chris Thurman had six carries for 10 yards and one reception for 20 yards. Jason Cano was 1-1 through the air for 20 yards.

While Sand Lizards coach Shawn Walter was pleased with the victory, he was disappointed in his team’s reckless play as the Sand Lizards had 10 penalties on the night.

“We looked really sloppy tonight, but we will return to practice and get better,” Walter said. “We try to preach the little things to our kids in practice. That is definitely what we have to work on before next week.”

Walter was proud of his defense’s effort in shutting out the Little Johns.

“Our kids stick together. When we fumbled down near the goal line, our defense made a huge play in coming up with the safety.”

The Sand Lizards return home next week to face Mayflower while the Little Johns host Russellville Junior Varsity.